


The Hotchner Bunch

by PagetPaulson



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4796048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When two of the most beautiful, loyal and fierce people the world has get together, their kids have something to say about it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shoving the new bucket of gummi bears into the candy container, Emily let out a breath and stood up straight when she felt her back begin to ache. "Jenna, can you get me the crushed snickers, please?" She smiled and brushed a hair from her eye at the look the teenager gave her. "Thank you."

"You could do it yourself," the girl groaned.

"You could have no job and go home to take out the trash," Emily grinned. "So? The crushed snickers please?" Looking up to the sound of a laugh, Emily smiled. "Hi, how can I help you?"

The handsome man glanced down to his wallet and pulled out a few bills, smiling at the beautiful voice of the younger brunette. "Your daughter, huh?"

Emily laughed at the knowing smirk he was wearing. "You have kids too?"

"Three," he nodded, gesturing outside. "They're out waiting for me; too lazy to come in and order themselves."

Smiling gently to the older man that stood on the other side of the counter, the single mother made her way around to the ice creams. "So what can I get you?"

"Um, two small chocolates, a small mint chocolate chip and a medium coconut, please." He watched as the beautiful woman turned around to get the cups ready and he smiled. "So do you own this place?"

"I do," Emily chuckled. "It's a small chain, I own eleven stores but most are up in New York and then over in Nevada and Texas. This is the only one in D.C," she grinned, scooping the green ice cream into its cup.

The dark eyed man looked to the working woman with admiration in his eyes. "Well you just blew my salary out of the water."

Emily's eyes crinkled as she laughed. "Well what do you do?"

"FBI," he nodded, watching as the younger brunette looked to him with wide eyes. "Relax, I'm not here to bust you."

"No," she breathed, "it's just that that's the job I wanted when I got out of college. Well the BAU to be exact."

His smile widened, Emily immediately falling in love with his dimples that popped out, and he stuck out his hand to the single mother. "Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia."

"No way," Emily laughed, shaking his hand with vigor. "Emily Prentiss, ice cream shop owner." Taking her hand back from the handsome father before her, she went back to scooping the ice cream. "See how yours sounds so much better than mine?"

Aaron shook his head, noticing the dark haired teen that he had seen earlier coming out from the back of the shop with a bag of candy. "You make more money, you win."

"You get more satisfaction from yours, so you win." The brunette woman glared playfully to the FBI agent, putting the covered ice cream cups in a bag so he could carry them easier. "Don't try me."

"Well what do I owe you?"

Emily walked away from the ice creams after shutting the freezer's door and made her way to the cash register. "Twelve dollars, please."

"Fifteen," Aaron nodded, stuffing the extra three into the tip jar beside the cash register. "If this is any good, I'll have to come back for seconds."

"Well I hope you do," the mother grinned, watching as he took some spoons from the holder on the counter. "So where are you and your kids headed? It's a pretty hot day."

Aaron watched as the question sparkled in the shop owner's eyes, and he smiled as politely as he could. "We're going to visit their mother," he nodded. "We go every Sunday afternoon."

So he was divorced. The brown eyed brunette made a mental note of the words and let out a breath. "Well I hope you all have fun."

Sharing one last smile with the new face he had met, making a memory of every inch of ivory skin that she beheld, Aaron walked back out into the sun and gathered all of his kids in front of him. "You guys ready?" He handed each of them their desserts and threw the bag in the nearest trash can before leading them to the cemetery down the street, where they took their usual seats before the decorated gravestone.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mom!"

Emily let out a huff at the yelling coming from the entrance of the school and she shook her head. The first time seeing her children today because she had gone into the store early and they were already complaining. "Just get in the car."

The middle child practically slammed up against the passenger side door and grinned to her mother. "My friend needs a ride home, is that ok?"

"Why didn't you take Jenna's phone to ask me before I came, Kai?"

Kaila Prentiss pursed her lips in thought, something her mother did often, and shook her head. "I don't know."

Emily rolled her eyes, smirking at her daughter as she unlocked the doors. "Get in."

The twelve year old yanked the car door open and hopped in, nodding to her friend who stood outside of the car to let him know it was ok. "You can come with us, Josh."

The single mother waited until the rest of her kids were in the car before looking in the rearview mirror. "Hi Josh, how are you?"

"I'm good, Ms. Prentiss," the blond boy nodded, smiling politely to his friend's mother. "Thank you for driving me home, my dad couldn't get out of work to get me."

"No problem, sweetie."

Turning in her seat, the eldest of the Prentiss children looked down to the newcomer with a smirk. "So, are you and Kai dating, Josh?"

Kaila's head spun so her dark eyes could glare at her sister. "Jenna!"

Jenna's mouth gaped. "Kaila!" she mocked.

The shop owner held in her sigh as she turned out of the school parking lot, nodding into the rearview mirror to get her son's attention. "Mattie, what do we say?"

The seven year old looked to Jenna who sat beside him and touched her arm. "Quiet," he hushed. "You're giving mom a headache."

"So where do you live, Josh?"

Looking up from his book, the eleven year old smiled. "On Hillcrest. It's in Woodbridge."

"Ok," Emily nodded, quickly switching lanes so she could stay straight. "That's not too far."

"We live in Dumfries," Matthew piped up from his seat. "Jenna? Can I see your phone?"

"No."

"Please?"

Jenna looked down to her little brother and glared. "No."

Emily quickly asked the young boy in her backseat for directions before turning up the volume for the radio, already feeling that familiar pang near her temple because of her children's voices echoing throughout the car.

Fifteen minutes later, the car was pulling up onto the correct street with Emily finally turning down the radio. "Ok Josh, which house?"

"Number three hundred and ninety-six."

Does eyes widening at the sight of the large white house, a beautifully painted picket fence surrounding the obviously expensive residence, Emily stopped the car. She had known that the neighborhood they had driven into was fancy, but the house before them, although not the biggest, was the most beautiful out of all of them.

"Josh said I could meet his brother!" Kai giggled, jumping out of the car and slamming the door shut. "Bye mom!"

Emily quickly threw her car into park. "Kaila!" Looking back to her eldest and asking her to watch Matthew for her, Emily made her way up to the front door. "Kaila, come out please."

When she didn't get an answer, the single mother knocked roughly against the glass window the front door had. "Kaila come on, we need to go home." Stepping back when the door finally opened, Emily rolled her eyes. "Come on honey, we need to get you to karate class. There's no time for this."

"Emily?"

The brunette froze, her eyes looking up to see the familiar chiseled face standing in the doorway. "Aaron?"

"Hi," the handsome man laughed, stepping aside to let her into his home. "I take it this is your little girl?"

Emily wanted to bring her hand up and slap against her forehead. Her middle child, the honor roll student, was hanging with her new friend Josh off of a teenager's leg. "I am so sorry," she apologized, one hundred percent embarrassed that the man she had met the other day was seeing her daughter act in such a way. "She's never done something like that."

Aaron shook his head. "It's nothing, really. She seems very sweet," he smiled as he opened the door wider. "Why don't you come in?"


	3. Chapter 3

After telling the other two children who had been waiting in the car to come in and join their sister, Emily found herself seated with the handsome man she had met days before on his couch in front of the unlit fireplace. "I thought you said you had a government salary," the brunette woman glared playfully.

"Yes," Aaron laughed, "I do. But my mother passed away two years ago and her life insurance policy went to me instead of my father."

"Well you made out nicely." Looking around at the expensive yet comfortable looking home, the single mother shrugged. "Your son, Josh, said that you couldn't get him because you were at work."

"Oh no, not actually out at work. I was on a conference call from ten in the morning to only ten minutes ago, and Josh is completely scared of the bus. Thank you for driving him home."

Emily shook her head. "It's not a problem. Besides, if I said no, Kaila wouldn't let me hear the end of it," she chuckled.

Aaron glanced back to the younger children who were playing in the hallway. "Well your daughter is welcome here anytime."

"So you told me you had more than one kid?"

"Yes, three," the older man smiled, his eyes immediately going to the pictures he had hanging on the wall. "Mitchell is sixteen, Josh is eleven and Stephanie is six."

Emily's dark eyes met the older brunette's and she smiled. "That makes sense. He and Kaila are in the same class and she's twelve."

Aaron frowned. "What about the other two?"

"Sixteen and seven," she smiled warmly. _A lot in common._

"MOMMY!"

Emily's head whipped around at her son's call, her arms immediately reaching out to pick him up and settle his little body in her lap. "What? What is it?"

Matthew's big green eyes looked up to his mother. "They have a gerbil, mommy. I want one."

"Maybe on your birthday."

"Can my birthday be now?"

The excitement both adults saw in the seven year old caused them both to smile.

"Well maybe you can come over some more and have a chance to play with the gerbil," Aaron nodded. "I'm sure Stephanie would love to share."

Matthew's arm immediately shot into the air. "Sharing is caring!"

The single mother laughed into her son's dark hair. "That's right. Now go get your sisters, ok? Kaila has karate and she's gonna be late if we don't get in the car in the next five minutes."

Waiting until the young boy had run from the room, Aaron looked to the younger woman before him, resting his arm on the back of the couch. "I wanted to tell you that my kids enjoyed the ice cream from your store."

"I'm glad," the brown eyed woman smiled playfully. "And so that means you're definitely coming back for more."

Aaron almost felt himself blush. It had been a long time since a woman, or anyone for that matter, had flirted with him, and the ice cream shop owner was definitely flirting with him. "Trust me, my children would kill me if we never went back there. Stephanie stole the rest of Mitchell's when he wasn't looking."

Her laugh vibrated around the room, the fading light from outside shining in those chocolate eyes that she had.

She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

"Thank you again for picking him up from school," the single father said sincerely, walking the younger parent out onto the front of his home. "I appreciate it."

Emily looked up to the older man with a tilt of the head. "All you have to do to pay me back is give me more money."

"So buy more ice cream?"

"Exactly right," she laughed, nodding to the older man. "So I'll see you."

He watched as she got her son strapped into the car before jumping in herself, wiping the hairs from her eyes so she could see out the windshield. "Yes you will."


	4. Chapter 4

Hiking her little brother onto her hip, Jenna Prentiss walked from the nurse's office and out to the elementary school's parking lot. "Try and go to sleep, ok?" she tried to clam him, feeling Matthew's arms tighten ferociously around her neck.

Right when she had gotten home, Emily had called the house and told her that Matthew had gotten sick and she needed to pick him up. Her mother was stuck at the shop all day, both employees that were supposed to be working had called in sick, and there was absolutely no way for her to leave and get Matthew with the shop's Friday afternoon crowd bustling in.

"I know Mattie, but it'll be fine." The sixteen year old buckled her groaning brother into his booster seat and smoothed down his hair. "Just try and get some sleep."

"Excuse me?"

Jenna turned at the new voice, her dark eyes widening at the familiar face that popped up. "Oh hi," she nodded. "Mitchell, right?"

"Yeah," the blue eyed boy smiled. "And you're Jenna. You're Emily's daughter."

"And you're Aaron's." Jenna flashed him a smile as she closed the car door. "Our parents are kind of dating."

Mitchell laughed at the notion, picturing both adults actually being together for more than a five minute span of time. "Well I definitely think that's what they want, but my dad's too chicken to ask her out."

The brown eyed girl nodded along. "And my mom is too passive to understand the signals she's getting from him." Watching as the other teenager looked back to the bus stop across the street, Jenna frowned. "Do you need a ride?"

"No, I'm good. I just missed my bus from school a half hour ago and I've been waiting for the town bus but it hasn't come yet."

"I can give you a ride," Jenna offered.

Mitchell turned back to the shop owner's daughter and shook his head. "You don't have to, it should be here soon."

The brunette rolled her eyes and rounded to the other side of the car. "Get in."

Smiling at the other teen's antics, Mitchell got into the passenger seat of the SUV and glanced into the back. "Hey bud, you feeling bad?"

"I got a tummy ache," he whined, his hands going to his stomach and looking pathetically to the older boy.

Jenna smiled into the rearview mirror as she pulled out onto the street. "He took extra pancakes to school today without my mom knowing and threw up just after lunch time."

"They were good though!"

"I bet they were," Jenna nodded, sharing a grin with the teen at her side. "Take a nap and you'll feel better."

Mitchell rested back against the passenger seat and watched the streets pass by as they continued driving. "Thanks for driving me, I appreciate it."

"Hey, anything I can do for my future brother."

The Hotchner boy's laugh echoed loudly through the car, not noticing Jenna smiling at him from the driver's side of the car. "You're probably right. I caught my dad on the phone with her the other night and it was three in the morning."

Jenna's jaw dropped. "I caught my mom on the phone too! She was in the kitchen eating the rest of Mattie's birthday cake."

"Mommy ate my cake?"

"Relax," the sixteen year old giggled as she turned the car onto her mother's shop's street. "It's not like you can have it. You're sick, remember?"

The seven year old pouted and slouched back into his booster seat.

Mitchell looked out the window when the car parked on the city street they had been driving on. "We're stopping at your mom's place?"

"Is that ok? She wanted to see Mattie before I brought him home so she knows how bad he is."

Walking into the ice cream shop, Mitchell waved to the woman who had been in his home only a week prior to drop off his little brother. "Hi Ms. Prentiss," he smiled, watching as she immediately hung up the shop's phone. "Nice to see you."

"Hi Mitchell," she beamed. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

Emily's tongue quickly swiped over her lip, taking the rag beside her and busying herself with cleaning the counter. "And how's your dad?"

"Oh trust me mom, I'm sure you know the answer yourself," Jenna smirked, handing her little brother off to their mom.

Ignoring her daughter's comment, Emily took her youngest into her arms. "Hi sweetie," she cooed, letting him snuggle into her neck and whimper. "Your tummy is hurting?"

"Yeah mommy!"

She kissed at his forehead, rubbing her hand gently down her son's back and holding him close to her chest. "Is it because you snuck out of the house with the extra pancakes this morning?" Knowing her son, and having this happen already twice before, Emily made him look up to her. "It is, isn't it?"

Matthew gave his mother the best pout he knew. "But they were so good!"

Emily tucked his face back into her neck and let him cry. "I know, and thank you for complimenting my cooking, but you know that eating too much makes you sick." Looking back up to the two teenagers on the other side of the counter, she smiled. "Thank you for getting him, baby."

"No problem. I'm just gonna drive Mitchell home then start my homework."

"Well," she interjected, looking hopefully to the Hotchner boy before her. "Why don't you both just stay here for a snack, and your dad can come pick you up?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Smooth, mom."


	5. Chapter 5

Aaron clasped his hands as he continued staring down to the gravestone that he stood before, smiling at the name engraved in the granite. "She's amazing and completely beautiful. I really like her."

Having contemplated asking out the beautiful mother he had been speaking on the phone with every night, and just five minutes prior, Aaron thought it was time to come and share the news with the woman who had given him his children.

"I know you'd love her," he laughed, his thumbnail poking into his other thumb to try and relieve his tension. "She's just like you in a lot of ways, but then completely different in others. I think she's a good change of pace for me, and all the kids love her already. Maybe if we actually start something, when the time is right, we can come and speak to you together." Bending down, the FBI agent ran his hands over the cold stone and smiled. "Goodnight Haley."

Hearing phone ring once again, Aaron quickly made his way out of the cemetery before picking it up. "Agent Hotchner."

"Dad? Can you come pick me up?"

The father of three walked toward his car and pulled open the driver's side door. "Did you miss the bus?"

"Yeah, but I ran into Jenna and she drove me to the ice cream shop. Can you come get me from here?"

He didn't even have to answer. Aaron immediately hung up his phone and ran across the street, walking swiftly down the city street until he came face to face with the familiar shop. Quickly fixing his hair without looking into the reflecting glass windows of the store, Aaron walked into the space. "Hey," he grinned, looking to the three kids who were sitting together at one of the tables. "What are you guys doing here?"

Jenna raised her hand to greet the older man. "Hi Mr. Hotchner."

"Hi," he replied speedily, immediately going up to the counter to smile at the woman behind it. "Hey," he laughed, reaching out to take the mother's hand and bring her forward so he could kiss her cheek.

Emily grinned, her heart pounding in her chest at the feeling of his lips against her skin. "Hi, how are you?"

"Good," the agent nodded. "But you already know that, we were just on the phone."

Mitchell smirked at the couple from his spot across the shop. "So that's why you hung up so quickly hen we came in?"

The mother of three glared playfully to the teenager before looking back to his father.

"So how are you?"

"I'm good," she breathed, grinning up to the handsome man and handing him the cup of ice cream she made him. "Here, for when you go back to work. I thought you could use a treat for all the hard work you've been doing."

Jenna groaned from her place at the table and immediately stood, walking up to the couple with Matthew on her hip and Mitchell trailing behind her. "Are you going to ask her out or aren't you?

Emily's eyes widened. "Jenna Rose!"

"Oh shut up about it already!" the teenager cried, turning angrily and pointing to the couple that walked into the shop. "Excuse me but you're gonna have to come back later."

Mitchell smirked from behind the sixteen year old. She was good.

"Now," Jenna grinned sardonically to the couple before her. "If you could pretty please ask my mother out so she could stop waking me up every night with her damn phone calls down in the kitchen because she's embarrassed to talk to you in her own bedroom where, wink wink, I think she'd much rather do it."

Emily's breath left her at the words, and she looked up to the older man with wide eyes.

"Emily, would you go out with me?"

Seeing the frightened look on his face due to the strength that the sixteen year old had spoken to them with, the ice cream shop owner chuckled. "Yeah, I'd really like that."

Jenna nodded. "Great. Now I'm gonna drive Mitchell home and get away from you two. Have fun."

The FBI agent turned around and watched as the three made their way to the store's entrance door. "I thought Mitchell said I needed to drive him home."

"Yup, we lied. Bye!"


	6. Chapter 6

"This is definitely not what I had in mind," the mother of three agreed, laughing as the older brunette pushed her chair into the table.

When Aaron had asked her out on this date, albeit forced to by their kids, she had been expecting maybe a dinner at a restaurant or even a walk through the park close by that they both knew was a mutual favorite.

But they were in his home, with all six children surrounding them, eating at his dining room table.

It was as if it were a family thing.

Aaron smiled as he sat himself down, pouring an aged Merlot into the wineglass that sat beside Emily's dinner plate. "It was actually the kids' suggestion."

"Your kids or my kids?"

Leaning closer to the woman at his side, the father of three pressed his lips close to the younger brunette's ear. "I actually think they got together and discussed it," he said seriously, smiling when Emily laughed. "Maybe they just want to be here to see how we get along in this setting."

"Knowing my children, there's always an ulterior motive," Emily chuckled, sitting back in her chair.

Jenna and Mitchell watched with close eyes as the adults on the other side of the table, her mother grabbing the green beans and setting some on Matthew's plate while his father expertly folded his daughter's napkin so it sat perfectly in her lap, and leaning into one another, they knew they were thinking the same thing. "They already look like they're parenting together."

The Hotchner boy nodded, his eyes on the brunettes that shared a look when they were done servicing to their kids. "They even look alike. My friend Jane told me that makes a good couple."

Jenna smirked. "Success."

Emily looked away from her date with a smile, her and Aaron's eyes meeting those of their teenagers. "What are you two talking about over there?"

"Nothing."

Brows furrowing, the mother of three frowned. "In unison, are we? I don't like that."

Aaron laughed. "Hatching a plan, probably."

Jenna's head tilted in the most innocent of ways before smiling to the man who had invited them to his house. "Mr. Hotchner, I wanted to thank you for inviting us on your date."

"Well you're welcome, but you pretty much invited yourself."

"Yeah," she smirked, her evil gaze on the couple across from them as she gripped her fork.

Feeling Aaron's eyes move onto her, the brown eyed woman gave an agreeing nod of the head. "I know," the shop owner sighed, sticking her fork into the chicken that her date had cooked for them. "She scares me sometimes too."

"Mommy!"

Emily looked down to the young boy at her side, running her hand over his dark head of hair. "What is it, baby?"

"He kicked me!" Matthew cried, jumping down off the chair and rounding the dining room table before kicking the other boy.

"Ow!" Josh growled at the younger boy before pushing him down. "Stop it!"

Aaron's eyes hardened on the exchange at the other side of the table. "Boys, cut it out."

The middle Prentiss child quickly got up from her seat and pushed at the boy who she had called her friend, pushing hard against his shoulders so he fell back against the wall. "He's my brother! Don't be mean to him!"

"Kaila," the mother chasted, getting up along with her date to get their children.

"Guys quit it," the eldest Hotchner offspring groaned, running to the fighting kids with Jenna at his side to separate them.

"He hurt me!"

Josh frowned at the youngest of the other family and shook his head, letting his older brother hold him back along with Stephanie. "No I didn't."

Matthew's doe eyes filled with tears. "Did too!"

"I didn't!"

Bending down and taking her now crying son into her arms, the brunette woman sighed. "What is with you? Everyone sit back down and eat your dinners."

"I don't wanna!" the Prentiss boy cried, turning and slamming his body into his mother's chest.

Aaron shook his head, untangling a small knot in his daughter's soft hair as he shared a look with the beautiful woman he had invited into their home. "Maybe we should reschedule for another night."

"Yeah," Emily sighed, looking sadly to the older man. "That might be best."

Watching her mom get her younger siblings into the car, Jenna pulled Mitchell to the side and hid behind the tall tree the Hotchners had in their front yard. "I'll call you tonight and we'll make another plan."

"My dad likes your mom too much to give up because our brothers are idiots," the sixteen year old sighed, rolling his eyes.

"Just sit by your phone, ok? We'll discuss exactly what needs to go down, and I mean exactly, and then on Monday I'll pick you up after school and make it happen. Got it?"

Mitchell let himself smile at the evil glint in the other teen's eyes before agreeing to a handshake. "You're scary."

Jenna grinned. "Thank you."


	7. Chapter 7

"Mom? Someone's on the phone for you."

Emily looked up from her glass of wine to her eldest daughter, her eyes red from crying as hard as she had been for the past few days. Not only had her date with the man of her dreams go badly, but her DC store had to close for a week due to a leak in the ceiling, and now her two youngest kids were fussy and sick and gave her the biggest migraine she had had in over five years.

"Mom?"

The brunette woman gently nodded her head and took the phone from her daughter. "Thank you."

Jenna took a step toward her mother and pressed a long kiss to her head. "And I'll take this," she whispered, taking the wine from her mother and walking around the island in the kitchen to dump it into the sink.

Emily huffed before setting the plastic to her ear. "Hello?"

"Emily?"

The mother of three felt her eyes widen at the sound of the handsome man's voice.

"Is this the beautiful Emily Prentiss? Mother of three? Ice cream shop owner? Sexiest woman I've ever met?"

Emily let out a breathy laugh and shook her head. "No, I think you have the wrong number," she said hoarsely, the pads of her fingers tracing along the granite counter top.

Aaron frowned. "Are you sure? This is Emily Prentiss isn't it?"

"Oh it is," the ice cream shop owner confirmed, "but all those other things you said? Wrong."

"I don't think so. The Emily Prentiss I know is the greatest mother I've met," he nodded, sitting himself on the front porch and looking up to the stars in the sky. "Her ice cream shops? The best ice cream I've ever tasted. And what I said about her being sexy?"

Emily bit down into her bottom lip.

Aaron's eyes flickered over to the light above his head. "Her body makes her sexy," he nodded, "but her mind makes her beautiful."

The brown eyed woman's eyes stung at the words being whispered through the phone.

"What has her upset tonight?"

"A couple of things," Emily choked out, shaking her head and thinning out her lips when she heard her voice crack. "Nothing your voice couldn't fix."

Aaron stood himself up and turned toward the beautiful glass door before him. "I'm sorry about our date the other night, but my kids told me to tell you personally that they apologize for everything."

The brunette grinned. "Personally, huh?"

"Personally," he nodded. "So maybe if you could come and open your front door?"

Emily's head whipped around to peer down the hallway, the mother of three quickly getting up and standing near the staircase to see if she could see the older man through the glass of the front door. "You're here?" Tip toeing down the hallway, the ice cream store owner hung up her phone and opened the front door.

Aaron smiled gently to the younger woman before slipping his cell phone into his coat pocket. "Hey beautiful."

She snorted, knowing exactly how she looked with her hair up and eyes puffed, her body dressed in her favorite sweats. "Right."

"I am so sorry about the other night," he apologized, staying outside of the house with his feet planted firmly on the wood porch. "But if you'd like, I would be honored to ask you on another date."

Emily softly shook her head. "I don't think that's a great idea."

Aaron shrugged. "I wouldn't do it like the last time. That ended a little poorly, didn't it?" Watching her try to hide her smile, the FBI agent grinned down to her. "This time, it would just be you and me. We can go out into the city and I can take you to dinner," Aaron almost whispered. "Will you go out with me?"

She sniffled, her brow pinching as she glanced down to her hands.

"What's wrong?"

Emily picked up her head so her watering eyes could look into those of the handsome man. "You're way too good for me," she breathed.

He saw the fear in her eyes, and he quickly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I think that's supposed to be the other way around." Leaning down, he nudged his nose against her warm cheek as he felt her hands slide up his arms. "You're beautiful, Emily Prentiss."

Emily's lips quivered and she turned her head, their eyes barely meeting before she let him kiss her.

"Get a room!"

The mother of three groaned against Aaron's lips before turning in his arms, her hands grasping his. "Sure," she nodded, grinning up to her two daughters who stood on the stairs. "Can we take yours?"

Jenna grimaced and hurried her sister back up to her room.

The FBI agent let himself chuckle, grinning against Emily's beautifully dark hair before she turned back around in his arms. "So can I take that as a yes?" he grinned, sneaking one more kiss from the giggling woman in his arms. "Can I take you out again?"

"Yes," she grinned.


End file.
